Two UF students win Truman Scholarships

March 29, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation has selected two University of Florida juniors as winners of its national scholarship for students preparing for leadership in public service: Ashley Bittner and Bruce Haupt. The award is a scholarship of up to $30,000 for graduate school in a public service field.

Bittner, a history and political science major from Naples, is president of the Honors Ambassadors and has served as a peer leader for First Year Florida and a site leader for the Florida Alternative Breaks Program. She is a service ambassador for the Center for Leadership and Service and has interned with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in Washington, D.C. She has been recognized as a Reitz Scholar, a Wentworth Scholar, and a McLaughlin Scholar. Bittner intends to enter a joint degree program of a master’s in public affairs and a juris doctorate. Her public policy proposal focused on oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, reflecting her passion for sustainable development issues.

Haupt is a political science major from Merritt Island who transferred to UF from Brevard Community College with an associate of arts degree in 2004. He is a Campus Diplomat, a member of Chi Phi, and a member of Students In Free Enterprise at UF. At BCC, Haupt was president of Phi Theta Kappa international honor society, founder of the nonpartisan political action organization Civic Rock, and a student ambassador. He was honored as one of the top 20 student leaders in Florida by Florida Leader magazine in 2003. On both college campuses, Haupt has been involved in student government. Haupt intends to pursue a master’s in public policy and a doctorate in higher education administration to pursue a career in higher education leadership, specifically within a community college system.

Truman Scholars are selected for their extensive records of public and community service, their commitment to careers in government or elsewhere in public service, and their outstanding leadership potential and communication skills. The Foundation requires students to be nominated by their institution, and Bittner and Haupt are the only two students selected from Florida. In 2006, 75 students from 63 colleges and universities were selected as Truman Scholars, from a pool of 598 candidates nominated by 311 colleges and universities.

The 2006 Truman Scholars will assemble May 14 for a weeklong leadership development program at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and receive their awards in a special ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., May 21. For a listing of the 2006 Scholars and more information on the Foundation, see www.truman.gov.

Recent winners of the Truman Scholarship from the University of Florida include Max Miller (2004), Teresa Porter (2003) and Michael Gale (2002).